Kevina-Jo Smith

This piece is inspired by the 2015 discovery of seven new Peacock Spider species in Western Australia. The spiders sparked momentary excitement, with their superb mating dance and the incredible patterns and colours that earned them their name. My aim hasn’t been to imitate the Peacock Spider’s actual web but rather celebrate the vibrant colours and playful dance through my own practice of knitting, weaving and meditating in a personal protest against the imminent environmental disasters we face together.

It is in reality a metaphor for the responsibility I feel entangled in to create awareness as an artist.

My practice is driven by the environment and wanting to shift focus from alarming information and instead celebrate positive news. This exhibition is an exciting opportunity to play with the scale of the forest using a symbol that is so often associated with fear. Through my use of up cycled materials on a large scale I hope to inspire exploration and play.